


Are you going up or down?

by Zacksy



Series: Leap of Faith [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Coffee breaks, Copy Machines, Emails, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Biphobia, Karasuno, M/M, Office AU, Office Supplies, Slow Burn, and, and so on - Freeform, aoba johsai, basically everyone from, lunch breaks, marketingconsultant!Daichi, mediadesigner!Suga, office hierachy, probably add tags as things will go on, shameless exploit of office related stuff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-30
Updated: 2019-04-13
Packaged: 2019-12-26 21:54:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 16,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18290987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zacksy/pseuds/Zacksy
Summary: "They want to poach me?!" Suga gasped. He sat up and crunching his slacks in his fists.Daichi huffed. "Basically, yes.""Well", Oikawa started, "that won't do." His lips had found their way back to his smile again, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Suga-chan works for us and no way in hell will I let him go.""That's what I said." Daichi nodded at him, an evil smile tucking at the corner of his mouth."Wait, wait." Suga held up his hands. His face was heating up, he never thought about getting solicited, even less getting such compliments from his superior and boss, in a roundabout way."You declined a job offer for me?" came out of his mouth.Daichi's eyes pinned him to his chair. "What? You were going to accept it?"





	1. Floor 1 - Lunch

**Author's Note:**

> You don't have to read the first part of this series but it would probably add to the experience, so I recommend reading [Elevator](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18201701) first! :D
> 
> I fell in love with this setting after writing my self-indulgent one-shot and had to keep that going! We'll see how that will play out since I have only a rough idea what's going to happen. First chapter is more an introduction to the setting, so please bear with me! :D
> 
> Thank goes also to my beta reader! <3
> 
> I hope you have fun!

It took him 12 flights of stairs the next day to decide that the elevator is still the better option. When he reaches the 12th floor, Suga's legs were aching, his breathing was retched, and he felt sweat gathering at his back and being soaked up by his undershirt. He groaned in disgust.

Actually, he wasn't that upset about the events from the last evening but maybe, just maybe, he opted for the stairs to see one certain person again. Last evening, he almost fell asleep on the spot after Daichi drove him home but this morning his head was filled with the memories of their little adventure in the elevator and Suga thrived for them to meet again as soon as possible. Even if that meant taking the stairs which Daichi was so adamant to take after the elevator fiasco. Suga had waited a few minutes before ascending and even looked over his shoulder every time he reached the next floor in hope to see Daichi. But to no avail.

So, after 12 floors, Suga gave up. He pushed the button for the elevator, awaiting the familiar _ping_ and the doors to open. A quick look at his watch told Suga the time, 7.13 am, which means he was already late.

The door opened after arriving at his floor and Suga was greeted by a few other late runners and pushed himself between them, apologizing silently by bowing his head.

The ride to the 22nd floor was over almost instantly, no way he's going to take the stairs again.

The doors opened and he stepped out into the small reception area where he greeted the blond receptionist and hurried inside the office on his left hand. The office wasn't too big, but it was still just one room, except for Oikawa's private room. However, even with only 10 people, it could get rather loud. Two group tables, each giving space for four people, were placed left and right from the entry and one table for two people, forming an L-shape, was placed on the left side of the room, encircled by two window walls. On the right side of the room, Oikawa's own office was separated from the larger office area by its own four walls. 

Suga headed to the left and plumped down on his seat with a groan. His thighs were still shaking, reminding him of how out of shape he was. He pushed his hair back with one hand and his other powered on his PC when a blonde-haired head to his left slowly peeked into his vision.

"Good morning, Sugawara-san."

"Morning, Yachi-san." Suga smiled at her when he finally got rid of his jacket and blazer, still feeling the sweat clinging to him.

"It's rare for you to come in late. Something happened?" Yachi had leaned back again and the soft noise of clicking and typing fell in place with the rest of the room.

"I... tried to take the stairs?" Suga chuckled at himself. Now it sounded too ridiculous even to himself. 

"You what?" Yachi's head reappeared next to her screen. She shook her head. "Please find different hobbies to stay in shape."

"Will do, will do." He laughed and turned his attention to the files on his desk. Another day, another too many tasks for one day. 

The next days flew by and the evening in the elevator seemed like a distant memory all of the sudden. The weekend came and went by and Suga's hope to meet Daichi again and talk and maybe something else was pushed down. Monday came around and Suga was on time at his desk, slurping at his coffee as he started to read over his new assignments. The usual. A few posters and presentations for the company itself and a few extern jobs. He sorted the projects by area of responsibility and delegated some of them to his team. The rest of the stack was for Yachi and him.

It was almost time for lunch, Suga's stomach was already growling and he thought about ordering an actual meal instead of his bento when the door to Oikawa's office flew open. Some of their team members flinched, it was never a good sign when Oikawa made his presence known this way. The rest of them fell silent, looking at him in a mixture of anticipation and nervousness.

"Suga-chan." A dangerous smile crept onto his face as he made his way over to Suga's desk. All eyes zoomed in to the pair.

Suga answered with a relaxed smile. Yachi was vibrating on her chair but he already learned not to get swept away by her nervousness.

"Oikawa-senpai, what can I do for you?"

Oikawa rested one hand on his hip, pushing it out a bit and held his chin between his index finger and thumb with his other hand, feigning to be in thought.

"Do you happen to remember, last week, you had to stay behind? I had so much to do that evening and, really, it was your assignment anyway." His voice was smug, eyes blinking innocently.

Suga nodded. "Of course. I mean, I had to stay overtime about three times last week, but I think I know which one you're referring to."

Oikawa nodded, ignoring the jab. "You don't happen to, I don't know, slack off?" He dropped his tone, seriousness with a hint of pissed-off accentuating it.

Suga squinted his eyes slightly. "I would never do that. No matter what time it is I have to work on a project. And you know that."

"Oh, I know", Oikawa crossed his arms, "that's why I entrusted you with this project."

"So, what seems to be the problem?" Suga rolled his chair back a little bit and turned to Oikawa fully, relaxing his foot on his other knee.

"Mhm, I don't know, maybe that I just got a call from our boss, asking about this exact project and whoever was responsible for it?"

The atmosphere dropped a few degrees and even Suga froze for a second. His thoughts went into overdrive. He remembered the evening clearly and even though he had looked forward to his home, he would never cut corners and submit a final layout. 

Oikawa gave him exactly 15 seconds to think. "I assume you did your utmost perfection for it and whatever seems to be the problem would be on the ground of some misunderstanding?"

Suga snapped out of his thoughts and nodded. "I'm happy to review the presentation with whoever wants to, but I am certain there shouldn't be a problem."

Suga's throat was dry, he could play the act of confidence, had learned it long ago, but the small voice in the back of his mind was still asking him _you sure you did pay enough attention and not fucked up?_

The soft ping of the elevator was registered by them all subconsciously, it was often enough in their daily background noise, but Suga noticed a few gasps. His eyes turned towards the elevator and he saw the top of short, black hair. He stood up without even thinking about it and stared at the newcomer. Oikawa followed his gaze and muttered curses under his breath. Suga didn't even hear them when Daichi's and his eyes met. Daichi's eyes softened and he walked over to them purposefully.

"Suga." He greeted over-enthusiastically. 

"Daichi." A smile formed on his lips, liking how the name felt on them. Daichi answered with a small smile right before he turned to Oikawa. 

"Oikawa-san? We just talked on the phone." Daichi's face still emanated friendliness but his tone asserted dominance as he reached his hand out. And Oikawa wasn't one to back down.

"Of course, Sawamura-san. I was just talking to the project’s supervisor, Sugawara-san. You didn't have to come all the way down here for that." Oikawa took the offered hand, both gripping each other's hand vigorously. 

"Ah, don't worry about it." They let go of their hands and Daichi pushed his hands inside his pockets, while Oikawa crossed his arms again, relaxing his right hand under his arm. They both smiled at each other their perfect custom smile, silently acknowledging the firm handshake but not giving the other the satisfaction of actually addressing it. Suga rolled his eyes. This strange behavior to ensure some kind of superiority was getting boring, especially in this company where everybody seemed to engage in this custom.

Daichi turned his attention back to Suga and he forgot his train of thought. 

"So, you prepared the presentation?" 

Suga nodded a little hesitantly. "Was there a problem?"

Daichi's eyes widened just a fraction and the shook his head. "What? No! I just held the presentation. It was for some sort of..." His voice trailed off and he blinked around them as if he had to remember where they were. His face turned to Oikawa. 

"Could we talk somewhere more private?"

Oikawa's smile never left his face. "Of course. Follow me." 

Suga and Daichi followed Oikawa inside his office where he closed the blindfolds of the windows facing the rest of the office. He walked around the big, dark brown desk and sat on his designated throne. He gestured to the chairs in front of him.

"Please." Even though Daichi was clearly his superior, this was Oikawa's office and he didn't shy away from ascertaining this. 

Suga sat down, already used to his antics and after a second Daichi followed. He eyed Oikawa who leaned back, elbows relaxing on the armrest and fingertips leaning against each other.

"As I was saying", Daichi turned towards Suga, "I just had a meeting with your presentation with another marketing firm. And apparently, they were a fan of your presentation, design-wise for that matter." 

Suga blinked a few times, eyes shortly looking to Oikawa who in turn lost his smile, lips stretched firmly but looking at Daichi intently.

"Thanks?" Suga scratched his cheek. "Does that imply something I'm not aware of?"

Daichi crossed his legs and folded his hands in his lap. "They asked", he cleared his throat, “well, rather, demanded that you work for them."

"They want to poach me?!" Suga gasped. He sat up and crunching his slacks in his fists. 

Daichi huffed. "Basically, yes."

"Well", Oikawa started, "that won't do." His lips had found their way to his smile again, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Suga-chan works for us and no way in hell will I let him go."

"That's what I said." Daichi nodded at him, an evil smile tucking at the corner of his mouth. 

"Wait, wait." Suga held up his hands. His face was heating up, he never thought about getting solicited, even less getting such compliments from his superior and boss, in a roundabout way. 

"You declined a job offer for me?", came out of his mouth.

Daichi's eyes pinned him to his chair. "What? You were going to accept it?"

"No!" Suga yelled and clapped his hand over his mouth. "Sorry." He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, that's not what I meant. At all. Of course, I don't want to work for any other company." Suga declared firmly, first looking at Oikawa who nodded at him and then resting on Daichi. 

Daichi let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. "Good. What is it then?"

Suga shrugged nondescriptly. "I would have liked to decline myself." 

Daichi chuckled. "Right. Sorry about that." 

Suga leaned back into his chair. That was a turn of events he didn't anticipate. 

"I take it, the other company isn't taking it too well?" Oikawa's voice sounded casual, but his eyes were still fixed on Daichi. A few seconds of silence followed, Daichi holding his stare.

"Yeah", Daichi admitted. He drove a hand over his face, rubbing his eyes with two fingers. 

"I could deny them talking directly to you with that declaration, but I can't prohibit them to contact you in other forms. And", he inhaled sharply, folding his hands back into his lap and facing Suga again, "they were pretty unyielding about having all work in relation to them handed and processed by you." 

Suga took a deep breath, exhaling through his mouth and leaned his head back to look at the ceiling.

"Doesn't sound to me like a problem." Oikawa propped his right elbow on the armrest, leaning his face against his hand. "Then, by all means, they can give us more projects, good for us, more money." 

Daichi rolled with his eyes. "As if I don't know that. But the problem remains that they want Suga for their team and believe me, they can be convincing. And if that doesn't work, they just wear you down until you accept." 

"And if I just don't work on their projects? I mean", Suga sat up a little straighter, "I know customers can choose their lead designer, but I can always refuse." 

"Not this time. The cards are on the table and if we refuse now, it would make us look unreasonable and could possibly compromise our work relationship with them." Daichi gritted through his teeth. 

"Again, not a problem", Oikawa looked at his nails, bored, "Suga-chan is if anything stubborn. And I mean _stubborn_. Let them try. Let them give him all the good jobs, give us more recognition just for them to bite their teeth out."

Suga chuckled with a slight blush. "Well, only second to yours truly, huh?"

"Suga-chan! You wound me!" Oikawa gasped, pressing an open hand to his chest. He turned back to Daichi. "So, you don't have to worry. I have my studio under control and Suga-chan can take care of himself just fine."

Daichi bit his lip, then sighed defeated. "Alright." He held up his hands. "I didn't really think that was a problem per se, just wanted to let you know so there won't be any confusion."

"Thank you." Suga smiled brightly at him. Due to that, he was finally able to see Daichi again and he didn't mind some extra work or have someone kissing his ass. 

"If that is done with, could you please leave my office?" 

Suga knew Oikawa well enough to have a good feeling for when you overstayed his hospitality. He pushed himself up from his chair.

"Sure thing." 

Daichi gave Oikawa another custom smile and nodded. "Thank you for your time and lending us your space." 

"You're welcome. You could use your own the next time. I might even say, it's nicer than mine." 

Daichi chuckled. "I'll keep that in mind." He followed Suga outside who was at his desk again with a few big steps. The office had emptied out and Daichi shuffled over to Suga. Suga checked his desk for any messages and when he didn't find anything, he roamed his jacket pockets for his wallet. No way a simple sandwich would cut it today. When he turned around, Daichi was standing next to his desk, not quite meeting his eyes.

"So, uhm", Daichi pushed his hands into his pockets, kicking lightly against the floor.

"So...?" Suga prompted when Daichi didn't continue.

"You don't happen to be, you know, free? I mean, for lunch!" Daichi's cheeks blushed all the way over to the tip of his nose, only somewhat visible due to his tan. 

Suga chuckled, covering his mouth with one hand. "Yeah, I'm free." And a little more silently, "I mean, for lunch." 

Daichi grunted embarrassed. "Great. Uh, what are you up for?" 

"Mhm", Suga hummed as they made their way to the elevator. "How about curry?" 

"Perfect."

They rode the way down, this time without a hitch, and exited the building like almost every other person on their way to their lunch break. The sidewalks were busy with office workers, chasing down every possible restaurant, diner, or food stand to get a fast lunch. 

Daichi and Suga ranked themselves inside the current and went with the flow. It was too loud to have an actual conversation, so they stayed silent, bumping each other's shoulder to acknowledge their presence to the other. When Suga craned his neck to look for a restaurant that actually had some space left when he was jerked to his right. Suga let out an undignified yelp when Daichi pulled him into an alleyway. His hand stayed around Suga's wrist for another few seconds after he was sure Suga would follow him and let his grip slip loose. Suga blinked and followed, no question asked, and they emerged soon at a parallel street which was way less crowded. Suga looked around curiously.

"Over there." Daichi pointed at a door with a small sign, barely big enough to be readable. They jogged over the street and Daichi held the door open for Suga. Suga’s ears heated up and with a chuckle, he walked inside ducking his head. The inside was lowly lit, soft music was playing in the background and almost no other customer was inside, so the bartender instantly noticed their arrival. Daichi walked up beside Suga and the bartender threw a mischievous smile. 

"Daichi. Kinda early, huh?" 

Suga smiled at Daichi, cocking his eyebrow. "Your usual?"

Daichi nodded and cleared his throat, turning back to the bartender. "Hey. Yeah, something came up." 

"Table for two?" the bartender put down his phone with which he had been playing until now. 

"Yeah. Can we get your curry?" 

"Daichi." Suga was taken aback by the sudden seriousness from the bartender. "Don't you want to introduce us first?"

The tension left Suga’s shoulder and he chuckled. "Yeah, Daichi, introduce me to your kinda shady friend!" Suga popped up next to Daichi, grinning at the bartender.

" _Kinda_ shady?" the bartender shook his head dramatically. "Full blown shady, thank you very much."

"Oh, my bad. Of course, how couldn't I see this with your", Suga gestured vaguely at him up and down, "everything."

Daichi made a grimace. "I'm starting to think this was a mistake."

Ignoring Daichi, the bartender extended his hand over the counter. "My name's Kuroo Tetsuro."

"Sugawara Koushi. But everyone calls me Suga." He squeezed Kuroo's firmly and they grinned at each other.

"Whoever makes Daichi's life harder is a friend of mine." 

"Kuroo-san, my presence enriches Daichi's life!" Suga gasped and Kuroo barked a small laugh which prompted Daichi to groan a little louder and he walked to the back of the room, plumping down at one of the tables.

"How do you like your curry?" 

Suga stopped as he wanted to follow Daichi. He narrowed his eyes at Kuroo. "Make it as hot as possible."

"You're on."

Suga danced over to Daichi and sat down on the seat in front of him. The table was small, and their knees bumped against each other so that Suga was about to shift to accommodate their legs but then he noticed that Daichi didn't move at all, so he stayed put as well.

"So", Suga leaned his chin onto his palm with his elbow propped up on the table, "you and Kuroo. Good friends?" He raised his eyebrow at the end of the question, eyes fixed on Daichi who in return leaned forward on both forearms, nodding. "Yeah. Kinda, best friend?" He threw a look over his shoulder. "Don't let him know, though."

Suga chuckled. "Got it." 

"We got to know each other a few years ago", Daichi continued unprompted, "when he opened this bar and I crashed here after some pretty messed up day." He scrunched his face up and furrowed his eyebrows as if he bit into a lemon. Some memories should stay hidden. Or at least so long that he felt comfortable talking about it, what for now seemed to be in the far, far future.

Suga hummed sympathetically. He knew all too well what a good beer can do after a long day. Or two. Or five and a few Tequila shots.

"So, it became kinda routine to come here, drink a beer, vent, and stuff." He shrugged, scratching at a dent on their table. "We became friends eventually, hung out and stuff." 

"And the curry?" 

"The curry?" Daichi blinked.

"Well", Suga let his eyes roam through the small room. It definitely was a bar, which was its centerpiece and just a small room with some makeshift tables here and there. Not really diner-like. "Doesn't look like a place to eat." He raised his eyebrows at Daichi.

It took a few seconds for Daichi to catch on and huffed. "Oh, yeah, Kuroo likes to make curry for lunch. Word hasn't come around though. Not that he advertises it." He shook his head. "But lucky me, I can eat in peace." 

"Won't I disturb you then?" Suga cocked his head slightly. 

"You...", Daichi had to break eye contact after a second, focusing on some poster on the wall. "You are not disturbing me at all." 

"I feel honored." Suga dropped his volume just a little, which made Daichi blush ever so lightly. Before he could look at Suga again, the door behind the bar swung open and Kuroo walked over to their table. He put two plates, filled with curry and rice to the brim, in front of them. Shuffling to the bar for a second, he came back shortly to place two glasses of water and one with milk in front of them. He winked at Suga.

"Hope it is to your liking." A mischievous smile formed on his lips. 

Suga's eyes gleaned. Just by smelling the curry, his eyes burnt and watered. Yes, that was some spicy curry. Daichi coughed and looked at Suga's curry in horror.

"You gonna eat that?" 

"Hell yeah." Suga pressed his palms together, mumbled an honest "Thanks for the food!" and took a spoonful. He blew a few times and when he deemed it edible temperature wise, he licked his lips and took the whole spoon. 

Right away the spice clung to his palate, heat filling his throat. His eyes stung, tears formed and threaten to spill.

"Mhm!" Suga moaned delightedly. 

Daichi's eyebrows furrowed looking at Suga in concern. Suga's cheeks were flushed from the heat and he looked ready to cry. But in the most beautiful way with a smile on his lips. Daichi's throat went dry and he had to take a sip of his water by his sudden thirst.

Suga dug in, savoring each bite. A few tears did fall, and he wiped them away with his thumb. Kuroo stood back behind the bar, observing the new guest and Daichi swore he heard him chuckled "masochistic bastard" at one point.

Not that he would argue with him about it.

They ate in silence for a while, Daichi found his appetite again when he had his first bite and devoured half his plate in record time. When they finally vanquished their hunger and slowed down. They fell in quiet small talk over work-related topics. They talked a little about current projects, customers from hell and co-workers shenanigans. It was a relaxed atmosphere which Suga rather enjoyed. Usually, he spent his lunch either in the office, eating his packed lunch or let some actual food get delivered to them. Only on rare occasions did he eat out with his co-workers, mostly if there was a special occasion. It wasn’t that Suga didn’t get along with his colleagues, on the contrary, they were all good friends, but Suga had a tendency to just shuffle down his food and get back to work. He told Daichi as much with a nervous chuckle.

"What is the deal with you and Oikawa?" Daichi asked between two bites. They were a little over halfway done with their meal. Suga’s face was still pinched in red from the spice, however, he still refused to drink from the milk as if it would mean to give up.

"Huh?" Suga blinked, lowering his spoon.

"Well", Daichi took another sip of his water, "I was just surprised. You told me he was something like an asshole but there he was, calling you pet names and supporting you undoubtingly." 

Suga held up one hand in front of his mouth, as he snorted. That prompted him to cough violently and Daichi pushed to him his water. Suga took a big sip and blinked a few tears away.

"Daichi!" Suga gasped, grinning widely. "First of all," Suga pushed his food a bit around his plate, "Oikawa has _pet names_ ", he fixed Daichi with an amused look, "for basically everyone. Probably already for you. Wouldn't be surprised if he has one for your father as well." 

He chuckled at the thought while Daichi pulled a face. "And secondly, as I told you, he is good at his job. Like really good, it's infuriating. And he knows what we're capable of and, therefore", Suga weighed his head from one side to the other, "I would say, he is just super aware of his abilities and ours as well and because of it has just trust in us. Not in only me, but in every one of our team." 

Suga took a deep breath and smiled at Daichi. "But other than that, he sucks as a boss." 

Daichi hummed. In his chest formed an uncomfortable feeling he couldn't really place and pushed it down for the time being and resumed eating.

"What about Kuroo?" Suga asked after his next bite. "Does he", he interrupted himself, eyeing Kuroo behind Daichi. He looked occupied by his phone but Suga wasn't sure how much attention he paid to them, so he dropped his voice slightly. "Does he know about your problems with your father?"

Daichi stilled for a second and swallowed hard. He took another bite to give himself time to form an answer. Before he could, though, Suga cleared his throat.

"You don't have to, well, answer. Sorry", with a slightly embarrassed blush, Suga smiled apologetically. 

"No, it's fine. Don't worry." Daichi felt the strain in his voice but he meant it. "He doesn't. Well, not the full story." He watered his dry throat by emptying his glass. "I haven't ... I don't know ... how, you know?" 

Suga eyed him for a little while without saying anything. He huffed. "I'm sorry. Wrong topic, wrong place. But for the record, if he is your _best_ ", he stressed the word with a wink, "he wouldn't have any problem with it." 

Daichi nodded. "Yeah, thanks."

Suga nudged Daichi's knee with his own and threw him a wide smile when Daichi looked at him. 

"My compliments to the chef!" Suga said loudly to Kuroo, leaning to his side to lock eyes with Kuroo.

"Noted." Kuroo grinned back.

They cleaned their plates to the last rice corn and Suga sighed a silent "Thanks for the food!" and leaned back. That was the lunch he needed. 

"You alright?" Daichi had his arms folded on the table, a small smile on his lips. 

"Great. Thanks for bringing me here." 

"You're welcome." 

"Wanna head back?" 

"Give me a minute." Suga interlaced his fingers across his stomach and leaned his head back with another sigh. For a moment he closed his eyes and just concentrated on breathing. After a minute he deeply exhaled and sat up. Daichi had walked over to the bar and talked quietly with Kuroo. Suga stood up and walked over. 

"What did I miss?" 

"Daichi’s trying to be a gentleman but I want to kill his thunder."

"Kuroo!" Daichi's cheeks were colored pinkish and he threw Kuroo a look that could kill. "Maybe I just won't come anymore."

"I'm just trying to be nice, Daichi." Kuroo shook his head with a mocked hurt look. "Not that I'm not always that nice."

Daichi snorted. "Yeah, sure." He sighed. "Put it on my tab, alright?" 

"Sure." Kuroo didn't sound earnest in the least.

Suga chuckled and tucked at Daichi's sleeve. "Let the man be a nice friend." He winked.

"Listen to Suga! He seems already smarter than you." Kuroo laughed at his own joke and when Daichi just rolled his eyes following Suga, Kuroo took a dish towel and smacked Daichi at the back of his head. "No eye-rolling in my house!"

"Ouch!" Daichi yelled despite not actually being hurt. "Yeah, mom!" he pointedly rolled his eyes again.

Suga laughed as he waved Kuroo goodbye and walked outside again. The air was warmed up by the silent spring sun and a lot of people recharged their solar energy by lazing around on benches, taking a stroll through the streets or sunbathing at the small green patches here and there. Even though Suga could appreciate a rainy, snowy, or stormy day, he definitely preferred the sun.

Suga inhaled deeply when they both stood side by side back on the sidewalk, smiling at the sky. 

"Ready to get back to your favorite place on earth?" Daichi chuckled. 

"We're going to a cat cafe?!" Suga spun around and beamed at Daichi with wide arms. 

"What?" Daichi blinked, frozen in place. "No."

Suga pouted. "Way to get my hopes up." He crossed his arms and stalked back to the alleyway they came from. 

"Wha-", Daichi jogged behind him to catch up. 

"You said "favorite place on earth", where else would I want to be?" Suga surmised over his shoulder.

"A cat cafe?" Daichi asked in disbelief, followed by a short laugh. "I'm sorry, I'll keep that in mind."

"You better!" Suga squinted his eyes at him before they reached the parallel street. The street was as packed as before, everyone on their way back to work. Suga and Daichi fell in step with the crowd, silently bumping into each other now and then.

Far too soon for Suga's liking, they arrived back at the office building and with a huff, they walked up the few steps to the front door. A few others came from their lunch break and together they cramped into the small elevator. Daichi and Suga were pressed into the far back and Suga tried hard not to concentrate on the wide chest he leaned against with his back. They were pressed against each other, he could almost feel Daichi's breath in his neck and if he glanced from the corner of his eye, he could see Daichi's broad shoulders. Suga took a deep breath and stared in front of himself, not focusing on anything.

When the elevator stopped at the 22nd floor, Suga forced himself to walk away from Daichi but took a second to grasp at his hand for just a second. He threw a bashful smile over the shoulder and mouthed "Thanks!" and left the elevator. 

His ears burned. When the elevator closed again, he buried his face into his hands. He wasn't really sure what he was doing, his body reacted and did stuff before his brain caught up. Daichi was nice, handsome and funny and a familiar warm feeling had taken root in his chest. Suga was still unsure of what he should think about it. Maybe he could just enjoy this feeling for the moment. 

He groaned silently, rubbed his face and with just a little regret walked back into the office. 

In there, some eyes followed him and when he sat down at his desk, he leaned over to Yachi. "What's up?"

Yachi raised her eyebrows. "That's what we want to know! You were called into the office with Oikawa-san and Sawamura-san! Are you", she bit her lip and her eyes darted around, "in trouble?"

Suga blinked a few times before he remembered the conversation not even two hours ago. 

"Oh!" he sat up with a smile. "No, no. Don't worry, everything's fine! I was... complimented." Suga hesitated not exactly sure what he was allowed to say.

Yachi let go of a deep breath. "Thank God! We were so worried!" Her eyes looked ready to cry and Suga rolled his chair over to her. 

"I'm sorry. I should have left a note. But thanks for worrying." He patted her shoulder, smiling reassuringly at her.

She nodded and wiped at her teary eyes. "Alright."

The next hour of work went by in a blink of an eye when Suga received yet another new email. Without checking from who, Suga opened it and stopped.

**From:** sawamura.d@j-marketing.jp

 **To:** sugawara.k@j-marketing.jp

 **Subject:** Lunch

Dear Suga,

I hope I don't inconvenience you with a private mail over your work mail. I don't have any other means to contact you.

I just wanted to say thank you for having lunch with me. I had a great time.

Regards,

Daichi

 

Suga held his breath for a few seconds and then breathed out slowly in an attempt not to laugh out loud. A quiet chuckle couldn't be prevented, nonetheless. 

He pursed his lips trying to suppress a smile. A smile because he was surprised over how happy he was that Daichi actually took some time to write to him and because he tried not to laugh at the formal speech Daichi used. It was utterly adorable. He bit his tongue as he answered.

 

 **From:** sugawara.k@j-marketing.jp

 **To:** sawamura.d@j-marketing.jp

 **Subject:** Re: Lunch

Hey Daichi!

You don't inconvenience me at all! 

I had a great time as well! We should do that again sometime! :)

Yours,

Suga

 

The cursor hovered over the "send" button as Suga’s eyes focused on “yours”. Was it to straight forward? Should he be more polite? Was it too improper? He sighed. He didn't even know what he wanted to be to Daichi but at the least, he wanted to be some kind of friend to and for him. So, he decided, he should just be himself. He pressed the send button and got back to work. For the next hour, Suga refreshed his email program constantly, just to make sure Daichi didn't send a follow-up mail he didn't see. But to no avail. There came in a lot of emails, though, but none from Daichi.

After another hour he had pushed these thoughts to the back of his head and buried himself in his work. It was around 6 pm, another two hours overtime and Suga was packing up his stuff when his phone rang. Suga eyed it. He was tempted to ignore it, he wanted to go home, and it was already late. Sometimes it was hard to be that dedicated to his job. He exhaled and picked up the receiver.

"Good evening! You are speaking with Sugawara Koushi, J-Marketing, Design department, how can I help you?"

"Good evening, Sugawara-san. A-J. design department. My name is Kunimi Akira. Do you have a minute to talk about our job offer?"


	2. Floor 2 - The Door

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I learnt to appreciate texting inf fics and I raise you: emails
> 
> Had a lot of fun with that!
> 
> Most of this chapter is in Daichi's POV b/c I thought it was rather important, especially to understand the coming flow in their relationship! don't know yet if there will be other chapters with his POV!

For a second Suga was frozen in place, taken aback. But he soon recovered.

"Kunimi-san, good evening. Of course, I have some time for you to spare." Suga leaned back and looked around briefly. The lights in Oikawa's office were still on and only one other person was still in the office with him. "But", he continued with slight confusion, "didn't Sawamura-san already gave you my answer?" 

He heard Kunimi sigh deeply on the other line. "Regarding that ... incident, I would like to offer my apology."

"Excuse me?" Suga blinked a few times, even more confused.

"Our junior spoke way out of place and doesn't have any authorities to make these calls. He", Kunimi hesitated, "just wanted to do what he thought was best for the company."

"And I'm the best for you?" Suga chuckled. This was taking a turn he didn't expect.

"In some ways, yes." 

"Well, thank you very much." Suga smiled. "What is there to discuss then?"

"Though Kindaichi spoke out of turn, the offer still remains. We want you to work with us." Kunimi said firmly but Suga heard the kindness in his words and not someone who would go to unreasonable measures to hire someone.

"Kunimi-san", Suga took a pen in his hand and drew aimlessly on a piece of paper, "Thank you very much for the offer, but I still have to decline. I'm very happy where I am." And Suga could say that without a hint of lying. He had worked here for about 4 years now and over the time he built friendships, earned his place and loved the work he was doing, despite some clients of hell.

"That is understandable." Kunimi agreed. "Still, we would like you to reconsider. Regardless of this offer, we would like more of your designs joined with our work."

Suga swallowed. "I am happy for every project I could work with you as being part of j-marketing." 

The last person finally got up and grabbed their stuff, throwing Suga a glance and a wave goodbye. Suga nodded at them, looking enviously after them as they practically bolted out of the office.

"While I am more than happy to provide you with more projects from our side", Kunimi brought Suga back on track, "I would rather you work on these projects in mind that you could do this work with us always. For us. Of course", Suga could almost hear the confident smile, "we would pay you more than you are currently earning. As well as other benefits of our company. I think we could work out some great benefits if you’d decide to join us."

Suga huffed. "Again, thank you very much. I still won't change my answer." His piece of paper was now a picture of strange shapes, filled with ink. Suga tore it from its stack and threw it away. Hopefully, his pen wouldn’t be out of ink soon.

After a short pause, Kunimi relented. "I see that I can't convince you now. Then I want to formally invite you." He cleared his throat. "So, when we have the next project coming around for you, please stop by at our company so we can discuss the details further, only for the project of course, and you can see for yourself how we work, the environment and so on."

Clenching his jaw, Suga remembered Daichi telling them that they had to have a good working relationship. A-J. might be small, but they were regarded with awe. They always worked on point, never had any negative publicity and worked for numerous prestigious clients. There were only a few instances that some enormous projects were overtaken by another marketing firm.

Suga could see the appeal working for them. They had always outstanding marketing strategies, worked earnestly and their own designs are always pleasant to look at. From a designer's eye speaking, A-J.'s designs looked always very well thought out. But, Suga often found himself thinking, there was something missing. However, the point was, no one should turn them down because of personal issues. It would only look bad and Suga would never do something to harm his workplace.

"I gladly accept your invitation, Kunimi-san." Suga started to power down his PC and packing his things. "So, if you have another project, I can help you with, please don't hesitate to contact me."

"I won't." Kunimi promptly replied. "Thank you for your time, Sugawara-san. Thank you for your hard work and good evening."

"Thank you, you as well." Suga hung up as fast as he could, not wanting to drag this out. It was already draining enough. With a sigh he leaned back, rubbing his face until it hurt. Suga wasn’t used to this kind of attention. He was just a simple person, doing his job and he loved doing it and the occasional validation and compliment were enough for him. Not this.

And then there was the attention he craved. From people he liked and he wanted to like him back. Most of the time, they didn’t but he could live with it. But not with Daichi. It wasn’t even a week since they met and Suga felt already like a wreck. He knew what a crush felt like and this was one hell of a crush. Nevertheless, he didn’t know what to think about it. Did he want this to be just a silly crush on his boss or did he want to pursue it more?

Suga stopped rubbing his now hurting cheeks. They were warm from his hands as well as the thoughts that unintentionally came with thinking about Daichi. 

With a glance, Suga saw, that the light was still shining under Oikawa’s door and after a moment of hesitation, he got up to walk over. He knocked on the door once and without waiting for an answer, he opened the door and peeked his head inside.

“Oikawa, you got a minute?”

Oikawa looked up from his papers, glasses pushed to the tip of his nose which he scrunched up a little. Suga using informal language with him was always an indicator that he needed someone to talk to, which Oikawa knew all too well by now. He threw one last glance at his papers and leaned back with a huff.

“Sure. If you don’t mind me working while you talk.” He mumbled and took off his glasses. “What’s up?”

Relieved, Suga went inside nodding and closed the door behind him. It always felt better to talk in a confined space he realized for himself. He took the same chair he did this morning and stayed silent for a moment. Oikawa looked him up and down and by the seconds, his face scrunched up.

“You know, Suga-chan”, Oikawa put on a fake smile that only appeared if he was getting impatient. He pushed his glasses back on his nose, leaning over his workspace, scanning the papers. “The thing about talking is to actually _talk_.” Suga could practically feel Oikawa’s exasperation. Good start, yeah. He made a mental note to take off some of Oikawa’s work soon. It was apparent that Oikawa was overworking himself, again.

“Yes, yes.” Suga sighed. “A-J. just called.”

Oikawa opted to stay silent but cocked one of his eyebrows. Suga rolled his neck and leaned forward, bracing himself on his knees with his elbows. This wasn’t what he actually wanted to talk about but he needed to work up some courage, so this was his warming up.

“I wasn’t expecting them to call this early on.” He huffed slightly amused. “They offered me a raise.” Suga heard Oikawa’s annoyed sigh but focused on the desk before him. “They want me to come over to them the next time there is a project for them.” Suga felt like he was just forcing out these facts and he felt Oikawa’s eyes on himself. They both knew Suga was just stalling. 

“And?” Oikawa demeanor spoke volumes. He wasn’t about to waste time talking about unnecessary trivia. Suga shook his head and shrugged, helplessly. 

“I don’t know. I felt like … informing you?” He leaned back, again rubbing his face. Should he tell Daichi about it as well? Was it necessary info for him? Would he tell him what he should do and what not?

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about something else?” Oikawa pursed his lips, done with Suga’s stalling. Feeling caught, his ears and cheeks started to warm up. If he didn’t speak up now, Oikawa would be sure to kick him out of his office.

“W-what do you mean?” Suga cleared his throat, hoping Oikawa didn’t hear his stutter. Well, he knew Oikawa would but Suga could still dream.

Oikawa rolled his eyes, adjusting his glasses, and started sorting through his paper. “I don’t know, or rather you don’t want to talk about something but some _one_?” The emphasis on the last word, Oikawa grumbled.

Suga let out a loud groan which earned him a chuckle. He dropped his hands in defeat and with a small pout, crossing his arms. “And if I want to?”

Oikawa waved at him. “Then, by all means, go on. This was why you’re here, anyway. I just gonna do my thing.”

“You are too generous.”

“Aren’t I always?" 

Suga huffed. He observed Oikawa for a few seconds who didn’t seem to pay Suga any attention anymore.

“Last week”, Suga began slowly, seeing no indication from Oikawa that he was listening, “I got stuck in an elevator after work. With Daichi.” Suga averted his eyes but he felt Oikawa’s intense stare on him. “We kinda talked, I mean, what else should we do? And we kinda … I don’t know. We talked about different stuff. I may have ratted you out a little bit.”

“You what?!” Oikawa gasped but Suga ignored him and carried on. “And … I don’t know how to explain this. We had a moment? Or two? Like, as if something was between us?” Suga bit his lips and remembered the evening all too well. “And I kind of thought maybe there could be something? You know, between us after that. But then we didn’t talk for the rest of the week, like, yeah, we probably wouldn’t have seen each other for who knows long if it weren’t for A-J. And then”, Suga exhaled as he replayed their lunch in his head. “We grabbed lunch together and it was really … lowkey? Like, we didn’t have any intense something like in the elevator or whatever, but it was … nice? Like, really, really nice and I kind of … I don’t know.”

Suga finally allowed himself a glance at Oikawa who stared at him in disbelief.

“Suga-chan, are you telling me, you have an office romance with your boss?”

“No!” Suga retorted a little too loud. “I mean”, he cleared his throat, “I think we are friends. Maybe.” He groaned again. “I don’t know what we are." 

“And you don’t know what you want you two to be.” Oikawa pointed out with an annoyingly smug grin. Suga contemplated if opening up to Oikawa was a mistake. Oikawa, however, dropped his grin and shrugged, resuming his work.

“Why not talk about it? You are both adults and if you want something then it's best to just vocalize it and get on with it.”

Suga sighed. “I know, I know.” Of course, he knew. Communication was key and all this stuff. He knew it was best to just be upfront with his feelings and in being honest they could actually move forward in what direction whatsoever. But, on the other side, Suga wasn’t sure what Daichi wanted. Again, that was just something he could find out by talking to him. But if he said directly that he wanted them to be a thing and Daichi didn’t want to then it could lead to them just not talking to each other whatsoever. Like, Daichi could be put off by that. And Suga preferred staying friends with Daichi than not talking at all.

“But of course, you just gonna ignore that and do your own thing.” Oikawa huffed. “Sometimes I don’t know if you really want to talk or just vent. Next time I’m just going to sit here, and you can talk to yourself.”

Suga smiled apologetically. “Aw, Oikawa-senpai, that’s not true! You are always a great help.” Suga put a hand to his chest and for a moment could hold an earnest face but it broke into a chuckle shortly after. “No, really, Oikawa, thanks for listening.”

“Yes, yes”, Oikawa snarled, “put it on the list of how many favors you owe me.”

Suga laughed, finally feeling like some load had lifted from his shoulders. “Noted. You should actually call in some of these favors sometime, you know?” Suga pushed himself up from the chair, shaking his head at Oikawa’s papers.

“Don’t stay too long. You need your beauty sleep.”

“Excuse you?! I am naturally this handsome. Speak for yourself, you should do something to impress your Prince Charming.”

Suga felt his face heat up yet again and stuck out his tongue in response.

“Now, get lost. I actually have some work to do.” Oikawa waved at him and pushed his glasses back, which kept slipping down his nose, as he turned back to his monitor. Suga exhaled and left Oikawa’s office. He glanced at his watch, half past 6. Almost being in the office for 12 hours was not good for his health. He grabbed his suitcase and jacket and finally left the office.

 

\------

This Monday was one of those special days once in a blue moon when Daichi could finally leave his office at around 5 pm, about 3 hours earlier than usual. It was also due to his thoughts going on a rampage and he didn’t feel useful staying longer than necessary. Moreover, since the first meeting the next day was only at 11:30 am, he vowed to himself to sleep in. And, therefore, decided to go to Kuroo’s bar. A beer or two would probably help to relax for some time.

It was still early, and it was an easy Monday evening, not many people were inside the small bar. Just a handful of office workers sitting at the counter and two tables were occupied in the back. That was what Daichi hoped for. He entered the building, nodding at Kuroo who was leisurely keeping his few customers entertained. The background was filled with quiet music, nothing compared to the upbeat rhythm at the weekend.

Daichi sat down on the stool farthest away from everybody else and Kuroo came over to him, a glass of beer in his hand at the ready.

“Kinda early, huh?” he chuckled as he put down the glass in front of Daichi. Daichi nodded and took the glass with a small “thanks”, gulping down half of it in one go. Kuroo raised an eyebrow at that.

“You alright, bro?” he crossed his arms, then leaned closer, lowering his voice. “Your father?”

Daichi coughed. He hammered his fist against his chest, taking in a deep inhale. “No! No.” He shook his head. “I …” he trailed off and scratched his neck. “There is something I want to tell you.” He swallowed.

When Suga asked him, if Kuroo knew about the reason his father and he always fought, he felt a pang of guilt. He never felt comfortable, still didn’t feel comfortable with himself but Kuroo helped him through pretty bad times without even knowing the full story. And he told Suga everything right off the bat. That wasn’t right. 

Kuroo looked at him with concern, not entirely buying what Daichi said. Daichi played with the rim of his glass, hesitating for a few seconds. “You know, my father and I argue a lot.”

“So, it _is_ about your father?” Kuroo leaned on the counter, narrowing his eyes.

“Not exactly.” Daichi huffed. “It’s just … I never told you the reason why.”

That caught Kuroo’s attention. His eyes widened. “Well, I mean, I just assumed it was some private family stuff and company-related things you aren’t allowed to talk about.” He shrugged.

“Not exactly.” Daichi retorted. “It’s more that”, Daichi looked around, searching for the right words. “I think, it’s more that my father has a personal issue with me.”

“With you? How is there a problem with you? Working hard, good looking, earnest, humble as fuck, it makes me kinda mad sometimes that you’re too perfect.” He snorted amusedly. Daichi gave him a lopsided grin.

“I’m trying to be serious here, you know?”

“I am, too!”

“Anyway”, Daichi waved at him, “the problem is that I-“ Daichi halted. Second-guessing himself, he covered his mouth with one hand and rubbed over it. He took another gulp from his glass and gazed into the yellowish liquid.

“He has a problem with me possibly falling in love with a man.” He muttered under his breath. He closed his eyes and let out the breath he held in. Just saying it out loud felt relieving. His shoulders sunk a little bit and he emptied his glass before he looked at Kuroo again.

Kuroo had cocked his head to his left looking totally unreadable at him. “Possibly?”

Daichi swallowed. “Yeah, well, it could either be a man or a woman. I don’t know. Both could be a thing for me?” Daichi held his glass with both hands to stop them from trembling.

“So, you’re bi?”

“I’m what?”

“Bi? Like in bisexual?” Kuroo raised both his eyebrows, eyes glistening for a moment. “Wait a minute, you don’t tell me you don’t know what bi means?”

Daichi squinted his eyes. “Why should I?”

Kuroo let out a heartfelt laugh, holding onto his stomach. He hit the counter with his fist and a few other patrons looked over to them. Daichi’s face heated up at the scene. What was happening? Did he say something funny? At least, Kuroo wasn’t disgusted or mad or something. Or was he laughing at him?

“Kuroo, what the … Speak up.”

Kuroo chuckled and wiped away a tear. “I take it back, you’re just an adorable goofball. Nothing perfect about it.”

Daichi’s face darkened. “Just go on. Dig your own grave.”

“Relax, man.” Kuroo relaxed his hands on his hips. “You really don’t know?”

“That’s what I’m telling you.”

Kuroo sighed. “You’re saying, you could either sleep with a man or a woman, right?” Daichi nodded, slightly blushing. “That means, you’re bisexual. Simple as that.”

“That is a thing?” Daichi’s thoughts made a backflip, working on overdrive. He didn’t know what to think.

“How sheltered was you’re upbringing?” Kuroo shook his head. “You know what straight and gay mean, don’t you?”

Annoyance carved into Daichi’s features. “Of course.”

“You’re no special snowflake or whatever”, Kuroo waved one hand in front of him, “there are lots of other people feeling attraction to both.”

“Really?” Something in his chest plopped, making him feel light. Kuroo seemed to notice the softening of his eyes.

“Sure, man. Nothing wrong with that.”

“Hm.” Daichi just nodded and looked back at his glass in his hands. His knuckles whitened at his tight grip. Kuroo wiggled the glass out of his hands, walked over to the tap machine and fixed him another glass. Daichi nodded as a thank you and took another sip. That went better than expected. He wasn’t exactly sure how Kuroo would react, but this was the best possible outcome, he thought.

“Well, I’m bi myself, so”, Kuroo shrugged. “I just thought you weren’t interested in men when I flirted with you when we first met." 

Daichi almost spat out his drink. He forced himself to swallow and looked at Kuroo in disbelief. “You what?!”

“So, you’re into men _and_ dense as fuck. Explains a lot.” He hummed, nodding to himself. “But don’t worry, I’m over you.” He dramatically sighed. Daichi still looked at him with wide eyes. Slowly the heat crept back onto his face. This was the first time, another man openly admitted to flirting with him. That was new.

“You have no experience, do you?” Kuroo laughed again, but no menace just genuine fun at the situation. Daichi grumbled. He wasn’t here to be made a fool out of him.

“I mean”, he scratched at the counter, “I didn’t really have had many opportunities with my father and the company.” He grimaced. “Would be “bad” publicity, as my father said. And I … I wasn’t sure at first what this all was. I was … really confused.”

Kuroo hummed. “I think we need to talk about that some more but not”, he looked around, “here. You free this weekend? Come over on Saturday. I have the day off, Tora has the evening shift. We can have pizza and some drinks.” He crossed his arms loosely.

“Yeah, that sounds good.” Daichi nodded. He never felt this vulnerable in front of Kuroo.

“So”, Kuroo leaned on the counter, both arms spread wide, a smug smile on his lips, “Suga, hm?”

Daichi blinked and felt his heart beat faster. “What? What about him?”

“Do you want to get into his pants and ask me for help, or why did you confess so suddenly?” His grin got even wider almost as wide as Daichi’s eyes opened up.

“W-what?”

Kuroo laughed out loud and clasped at Daichi’s shoulder with one hand. “Your face … priceless.” He wiped away another tear. “But seriously, is this about him?” While Kuroo’s eyes shined a little more serious, his wriggling eyebrows still annoyed Daichi. He sighed.

“No. Not really, at least.” He pushed Kuroo’s hand away and the barkeeper stood back up, placing his hands on either side of his hip. “Remember when I told you how I was stuck in an elevator with another employee?"

Kuroo nodded slightly and his left eyebrow shot up. “Oh.” He grinned smugly.

Daichi shot him a glare to shut him up for any other comment. “So, yeah, that was Suga and I kinda”, Daichi gritted his teeth, “I had a bad day and I kind of spilled the beans and he just listened and stuff. And when we were here, he asked if, you know, _you_ know? About my father and all this crap. And then I felt bad that I never told you just because I was”, his breath hitched, “because I was scared how you would react.” He mumbled out at the end.

It was not exactly loud, but there was still enough music and background talk that it was hard to understand what Daichi grumbled out. Kuroo observed Daichi with a weighted look.

“How long do we know each other?” His voice was leveled. Daichi thought for a few seconds and tilted his head.

“About 6 years?”

“Exactly.” Kuroo clenched his jaw just a little. “You should know me by now. Do you really think I would cast you out because of that?” Kuroo didn’t have to say it out loud but Daichi heard the disappointment and slight hurt in his voice.

“No, of course not.” He breathed out. Actually, Daichi had been scared Kuroo would abandon him but only for a little bit. Most of his fear was fueled by his own insecurities. He was afraid that if he said it out loud, told it to more people it became more real and had consequences. He wasn’t exactly sure what he thought these consequences were or how anything could get worse or whatever. It was just this feeling of anxiety that manifested in his chest whenever he thought about telling anybody about this. Probably, he had to admit to himself, this fear manifested when he told his father and his immediate reaction. He should have had more faith in his friends. He knew that, but still, this irrational fear of ending up alone never left.

“I’m sorry.” Daichi clenched a fist in his other hand. A second later he was smacked against his forehead. “Ouch!” he rubbed his face and looked up at Kuroo who shook his hand. 

“Bullhead.” Kuroo grabbed two glasses from underneath the counter, grabbed one of the bottles off the shelf on the wall and poured some light brown liquid in them. He pushed one of them in Daichi’s hand and held up his glass.

“To no more secrets.” Kuroo’s mouth had his trademark smirk back on and Daichi couldn’t help but smile just a little. 

“To no more secrets.” He shook his head as he clinked his glass against Kuroo’s and they both downed their contents in one go. Daichi coughed with one hand covering his mouth, tears shooting into his eyes.

“What the heck, Kuroo?!” he rasped, blinking against the blurry view. He heard Kuroo laughing equally raspingly before falling into a coughing fit. It took more than a minute for them to recover from their burning throats but afterward, they looked at each other and they chuckled.

Daichi stayed for about another hour, entertaining Kuroo whenever he wasn’t attending other patrons, nurturing just another glass of beer and replaying their conversation. It felt good. It was the right thing to do. It was just so exhausting to put himself out in the open. When Daichi emptied his beverage, he said his goodbye to Kuroo who confirmed that they would meet up again at the weekend to have an actual conversation. Daichi nodded with a grin and walked outside to grab a taxi to get home.

 

\------ 

**_Tuesday_ **

 

 **From:**  sugawara.k@j-marketing.jp  
**To:**  sawamura.d@j-marketing.jp

 **Subject:** A-J. recruiting

Good morning Daichi!

Yesterday evening I had a call from A-J.’s design department. They were really nice and apologized for the rude behavior they apparently showed towards you. I got a chance to decline their offer myself. (◕‿◕✿)

They still want me to work on their projects and I was invited to come over for the next project.

I don’t know if this is important, I just felt like telling you.

Have a good day!

Yours,  
Suga

 

 **From:**  sawamura.d@j-marketing.jp  
**To:**  sugawara.k@j-marketing.jp

 **Subject:**  Re: A-J. recruiting

Good morning Suga,

thank you for your notice. I really appreciate your honesty about this subject. Please don’t hesitate to tell me if they overstep their boundaries.

If there is anything, I can help you with just ask.

Regards,

Daichi

 

 **From:**  sugawara.k@j-marketing.jp  
**To:**  sawamura.d@j-marketing.jp

 **Subject:** Re: Re: A-J. recruiting

Hey Daichi!

Thank you for your offer! If I can think of anything, I’ll let you know!

Yours,  
Suga

\------

**_Wednesday_ **

 

 **From:**  sawamura.d@j-marketing.jp  
**To:**  sugawara.k@j-marketing.jp

 **Subject:** Corporate Design Photography Studio

Hello Suga,

one of my clients greatly appreciated the designs you made for his office supplies a while ago and asked if you are willing to work on a corporate design for his newly established business. I attached some of his ideas. Please let me know if you have the capacity for this project and what you think about his input.

Besides that, I saw you running through the lobby today, almost running over a few people. Is everything okay?

Regards,

Daichi

 **Attachment:** Ideas_j-marketing.pdf

**From:**  sugawara.k@j-marketing.jp  
**To:**  sawamura.d@j-marketing.jp

 **Subject:** Re: Corporate Design Photography Studio

Hi Daichi!

Thank you! Yes, I do have time for that. I remember them, they were really pleasant to work with, I would really like to take this over. Regarding their ideas, I think this is a good start, but I recommend being bolder. I remember them to be a little timid and the office supplies designs I made for them already pushed for more boldness. I made some redesigns, put in more shapes. Let me know what they think about it.

Oh gosh, how embarrassing! Yes, absolutely. I just … forgot to turn off the TV and my neighbor was complaining about the noise.  (//▽//)

Yours,  
Suga

 **Attachment:** Asahi_corporateDesign_draft1.pdf

 

 **From:**  sawamura.d@j-marketing.jp  
**To:**  sugawara.k@j-marketing.jp

 **Subject:** Re: Re: Corporate Design Photography Studio

Hello Suga,

I do like the redesigns a lot, thank you for your hard work. I let them know as soon as possible. I tell them to contact you directly for further discussions if that is okay with you?

Haha, please be more careful next time. I hope you don’t get a noise complaint from your landlord.

Regards,

Daichi

  
**From:**  sugawara.k@j-marketing.jp  
**To:**  sawamura.d@j-marketing.jp

 **Subject:** Re: Re: Re: Corporate Design Photography Studio

Thank you very much! Yes, I think that would be more practical. And you wouldn’t waste your time with being our middle man anymore. (￢_￢;)

Don’t worry! I have a good relationship with my neighbor, and they texted me directly. Everything’s fine!

Yours,  
Suga

  
**From:**  sawamura.d@j-marketing.jp  
**To:**  sugawara.k@j-marketing.jp

 **Subject:** Re: Re: Re: Re: Corporate Design Photography Studio

Hello Suga,

don't worry, writing and working with you is in no way wasting my time. In fact, it is rather refreshing.

Good to hear. I hope this doesn’t happen again.

Regards,

Daichi

\------

**_Thursday_ **

 

 **From:**  sugawara.k@j-marketing.jp  
**To:**  sawamura.d@j-marketing.jp

 **Subject:** printing machine of hell

Hey Daichi!

It was nice seeing you today! And thanks for your help… (´,,•ω•,,)

What were you doing on our floor? Finally deciding to mix with the common folk?

Yours,  
Suga

  
**From:**  sawamura.d@j-marketing.jp  
**To:**  sugawara.k@j-marketing.jp

 **Subject:** Re: printing machine of hell

Hello Suga,

I was happy to see you again, too! And no worries, it was my pleasure. I had my fair share of uncooperative office machines.

Rather than mix, I just was ensuring my presence once again. I have an obligation to appear once every quarter of the year to ingrain my dominance over you all.

Regards,

Daichi

  
**From:**  sugawara.k@j-marketing.jp  
**To:**  sawamura.d@j-marketing.jp

 **Subject:** Re: Re: printing machine of hell

What machines were standing in your way until now? I actually have really good working devices at my side.

My apologies. I shouldn’t talk out of line. I will carry your words to our realms and be your spokesperson.

Yours,  
Suga

  
**From:**  sawamura.d@j-marketing.jp  
**To:**  sugawara.k@j-marketing.jp

 **Subject:** Re: Re: Re: printing machine of hell

Hello Suga,

leaving out today’s printing machine, I had coffee machines, PC's, lights, scanners, shredders, and doors malfunctioning. (I know doors aren’t machines, but they malfunction, too.)

That’s what I’m recruiting you for. If you do work to my satisfaction, I will reward you greatly.

Regards,

Daichi

  
**From:**  sugawara.k@j-marketing.jp  
**To:**  sawamura.d@j-marketing.jp

 **Subject:** Re: Re: Re: Re: printing machine of hell

All of them sound valid. I have coworkers complain about our coffee machine. Fortunately, I was spared its antics, fingers crossed! Now you have to tell me about the door! What happened? ∑d(°∀°d)

I will give it my best, rest assured. What could possibly be a reward granted by you?

Yours,  
Suga

  
**From:**  sawamura.d@j-marketing.jp  
**To:**  sugawara.k@j-marketing.jp

 **Subject:** the door

Hello Suga,

it was about 5 months ago when I had to work late, again. I had gathered up my stuff and was ready to leave when the door got jammed. I probably never actually locked my door but apparently, it can still do this thing on its own. Must be cursed. So, I was getting frustrated after trying to push it open and kicked at it. The door handle fell out. I was stuck in my office for a few hours before I got a hold of someone since there was an outage of my cellphone provider and I had no service. It was horrible.

You have to be patient to find out.

Regards,

Daichi

  
**From:**  sugawara.k@j-marketing.jp  
**To:**  sawamura.d@j-marketing.jp

 **Subject:** Re: the door

OMG! I actually had to laugh out loud! ∑(O_O;) Oikawa wasn’t happy. That is priceless! Maybe you’ll get a reputation in getting stuck in your own office building. But I have to ask, don’t you have a phone on your desk? Couldn’t you have used that one?

Anticipation is the greatest joy.

Yours,  
Suga

  
**From:**  sawamura.d@j-marketing.jp  
**To:**  sugawara.k@j-marketing.jp

 **Subject:** Re: Re: the door

Hello Suga,

I am sorry, I shouldn’t keep you from working.

Yes, Suga. I have one. Yes, I could have used it. Yes, I forgot about it. Yes, I was ridiculed about it already.

I won’t disappoint you.

Regards,

Daichi

  
**From:**  sugawara.k@j-marketing.jp  
**To:**  sawamura.d@j-marketing.jp

 **Subject:** Re: Re: Re: the door

(◕‿◕✿)

 

 **From:**  sugawara.k@j-marketing.jp  
**To:**  sawamura.d@j-marketing.jp

 **Subject:** late lunch

Hello Daichi,

I was wondering if you want to grab a late lunch together today? I will be out by 2:15 and wanted to grab some burritos at this new place everyone’s been talking about.

I wanted to call you since this is kinda short notice, but I wasn’t sure if you would be too surprised by the sudden noise coming from your desk.

Yours,  
Suga

  
**From:**  sawamura.d@j-marketing.jp  
**To:**  sugawara.k@j-marketing.jp

 **Subject:** Re: late lunch

Hello Suga,

I hate you so much right now.

I’d love to. I’ll get you on my way down.

Regards,

Daichi

  
**From:**  sugawara.k@j-marketing.jp  
**To:**  sawamura.d@j-marketing.jp

 **Subject:** A-J. project

Hey Daichi!

Thank you for the lunch break! I had a great time! Thank you for listening to me venting about stupid clients. I needed this (ﾉಥ益ಥ)ﾉ

I just had another call from A-J. They invited me for next Tuesday to discuss a new project I should supervise as lead designer. It’s for a sports festival in a few months. Just wanted to let you know.

Yours,  
Suga

  
**From:**  sawamura.d@j-marketing.jp  
**To:**  sugawara.k@j-marketing.jp

 **Subject:** Re: A-J. project

Hello Suga,

you're welcome! And likewise, it was a really relaxing lunch break. I felt really re-energized afterward. The burritos were really tasty as well. But a little hot for my taste. Don’t worry, I will always listen. You did listen to me complaining about my father and the board, too. I really think it is time they all resign.

Thank you for letting me know. If you need someone to come with you, I will free my schedule.

Regards,

Daichi

 **  
From:**  sugawara.k@j-marketing.jp  
**To:**  sawamura.d@j-marketing.jp

 **Subject:** Re: Re: A-J. project

Of course, this goes both ways! As I said, I don’t catch much of the internal affairs and politics in my position, but I get that it can be frustrating talking to stubborn old geezers (I really hope our email program is protected! Whoever might read our emails for safety measurements of whatever, pls don’t tell on us!! Σ(°△°|||)

Thank you! If I get cold feet short-term, I’ll call-- pardon, write you.

Yours,  
Suga

  
**From:**  sawamura.d@j-marketing.jp  
**To:**  sugawara.k@j-marketing.jp

 **Subject:** Re: Re: Re: A-J. project

Hello Suga,

still, thank you. Sometimes it just helps to say it out loud instead of bottling it up. I’ve had enough of that. …If something might happen, will you have my back? I don’t think our emails are getting read, don’t worry.

Why.

Regards,

Daichi

  
**From:**  sugawara.k@j-marketing.jp  
**To:**  sawamura.d@j-marketing.jp

 **Subject:** Re: Re: Re: Re: A-J. project

Of course! You can count on me! As I said, I’m your spokesperson. o( ❛ᴗ❛ )o

¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

Yours,  
Suga

\------

**_Friday_ **

 

 **From:**  sawamura.d@j-marketing.jp  
**To:**  sugawara.k@j-marketing.jp

 **Subject:** personal

Hello Suga,

first of all, you don’t need to answer this email, I just get this off my chest.

I had another argument with my father last evening regarding the miai. He still intends to go through with it and set up a meeting for this Sunday. I turned it down and he threw a fit because he already booked a room in a restaurant for her and me for a “nice dinner” and “get to know each other”. Conveniently, he also booked a room in a nearby hotel if things go “really well”. We practically just yelled at each other. I think I got my point across that I will not participate in this stupid farce and that I have no intention in following his will. But he doesn’t care if I want to or not. He said he’ll just find some woman I will eventually fall in love with and give him an heir. Preferable in the next six months. I mean, what is he even thinking? I can’t schedule falling in love. Like, next week, Wednesday at about 4 pm I have an opening, why wouldn’t my significant other come around. And about two weeks later, I have another opening, why not meet in a park, go to the cherry blossoms viewing and conveniently fall in love at about 3.15 pm? This is just ridiculous.

Regards,

Daichi

  
**From:**  sugawara.k@j-marketing.jp  
**To:**  sawamura.d@j-marketing.jp

 **Subject:** Re: personal

I am so sorry. This is in no way tolerable to treat anybody. Let me tell you, you’re absolutely right. This is ridiculous and your father is way out of line. Please don’t give in to his stupid demands. You deserve someone who values you as who you are and not as some company hotshot. I just hope your father will come to his senses soon. This will just put more stress and pressure on you both.

I would have asked you if you were up for lunch, but I’m actually on my way to a meeting out of town. I am sorry.

I can pay a visit to your office when I’m back sometime this afternoon if you want to.

Yours,  
Suga

  
**From:**  sawamura.d@j-marketing.jp  
**To:**  sugawara.k@j-marketing.jp

 **Subject:** Re: Re: personal

Hello Suga,

if you could take some time for that, that would be great. Thanks.

Regards,

Daichi

  
**From:**  sugawara.k@j-marketing.jp  
**To:**  sawamura.d@j-marketing.jp

 **Subject:** coffee

Sorry, I was only back at 4 and had some follow-ups to do! You still here? Can I come up?

Yours,  
Suga

  
**From:**  sawamura.d@j-marketing.jp  
**To:**  sugawara.k@j-marketing.jp

 **Subject:** Re: coffee

Hello Suga,

still holding the fort. Looking forward to you.

Regards,

Daichi  
  


Suga waited for Daichi’s reply already on his toes and when the email popped up, he pushed himself up the rest of the way. He already prepared coffee and poured it in two mugs on his way out, rocked on his feet back and forth as he waited for the elevator and when it finally reached his floor, he pressed the button inside for the floor farthest up with his elbow, careful not to spill the coffee over his shirt. The ride up was over in a blink and he exited the small room.

It felt like a totally different world up here. Even though most of the lights were out, it was already 7 pm on a Friday, Suga could see the fancy marble on the receptionist desk. He felt the soft carpet even through his shoes, like walking on a cloud. It felt like an eternity since he had been up here the last time. Well, it was already a few years ago. Suga had received good feedback from a major client and was rewarded a personal thanks from the company’s boss, a solid handshake, a slap on his back and reassurance that his workplace is secured. As long as he didn’t fuck up, Suga had read between the lines. He can’t really remember the face of Daichi’s father that well.

Pushing this memory in the far back of his head, Suga walked through the glass door in front of him and slowly walked down the corridor. Most of the doors were slightly ajar, insides not visible in the darkness until Suga reached the door farthest to the left which was still closed. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door with his foot.

“Come in.”

Suga awkwardly pushed the door handle down with his elbow, opening the door with the push of his arm.

“Good evening.” He smiled. Something lifted from his shoulders as he saw Daichi again. With his foot, he pulled the door to close with a loud thump, even louder since the office was eerily silent. Daichi jumped just slightly at the sound and looked up from his papers. Suga could see the black rims under Daichi’s eyes and the smile he was throwing Suga was more just a stretch of his lips. Even though he felt relieved to see him, Suga felt a lump forming in his throat. He swallowed, took a deep breath and beamed at Daichi.

“Still working hard, huh?” He walked over, balancing one mug to some free space on Daichi’s side before he made himself comfortable on the chair in front of the desk. The coffee was still steaming, and he saw the slight gleam in Daichi’s eyes.

“Thanks.” His voice was gruff from talking too much today or screaming the day before, Suga couldn’t tell. Daichi cleared his throat, blowing at his coffee as he carefully moved it to his mouth with one hand. He slurped at it, a small but earnest smiled formed on his lips.

“Tastes great.”

“Well, I am known for making some mean coffee.” Suga winked and took a sip of his own coffee. “I like playing with tastes of different coffee blends”, Suga continued unprompted. Daichi hummed into his coffee in response. “I made your coffee a little more roasted, a little deeper and put just a little bit of cream inside to mellow it out.” He raised his own cup at Daichi, tipping at the side of it. “Mine is with a little bit of caramel.” His lips stretched into a grin as he took another sip.

Daichi nodded again, looked Suga up and down, and nodded again. “Suits you, I guess.”

“How should I take that?” Suga raised his eyebrow as he lowered his mug into his lap.

“As a compliment.” Daichi smiled. “You look like a caramel type to me. Maybe white chocolate.”

“Even though I like my food spicy?”

“Hm”, Daichi leaned back, “I think, food and drinks are pretty different for you. Like, your tea is probably outrageously sugared, but you eat spicy as heck dark chocolate with it.”

Suga snorted, shaking his head. “You already know me so well.”

“So, I am right?” His voice sounded playful but genuinely curious.

“Mhm.” Suga hummed affirmatively. He played at the rim of his mug, wiping away some liquid and licked it from his thump.

“Wanna talk?” he asked with a light tone, not trying to pressure into anything.

“Not really.” Daichi mumbled before starting to rock his chair right and left with his feet. He raised his mug back up and took a few sips and remained silent. Suga waited a couple of seconds before he nodded and leaned back.

“I had a meeting with Asahi today. A little unplanned, but I was in the area and I just went over for a bit and we agreed on one design. Gonna finish on Monday and send them the final design for their approval. They’re getting quite some clients recently.”

Suga continued to tell Daichi about his meeting with Asahi and how their studio had changed since the last time Daichi was over. There were a few jokes on the expense of Asahi’s timid demeanor despite their dangerous appearance but Suga didn’t mind since he made Daichi chuckle a few times. When Daichi emptied his mug, he turned back to his papers and started sorting through them. Suga didn’t stop telling Daichi about his day, the different meetings he had, the exasperating clients he had to deal with and the usual rush from appointment to appointment. After he ran out of things to talk about, he fell silent again, slurping on his now almost cold coffee while Daichi started marking numbers and details on his papers, cross-checking them with other documents.

When Suga drank the rest of his coffee, he took out his cell phone, scrolling randomly through his social media. His eyes found it hard to leave Daichi for too long so every once in a while, they glanced up at Daichi, taking in his sight. Daichi’s bottom-up shirt was loose around his collar, the first two buttons were opened, his tie dangling unfastened on his chest. His sleeves very rolled up, highlighting his strong forearms and big hands. Daichi’s short hair probably could never look disheveled, though Suga almost saw it as a challenge to prove this wrong.

Daichi’s face scrunched up and Suga almost jolted back into reality, forcing down the incoming blush for staring at him. Daichi pinched his nose, closing his eyes.

“Alright, I’m done.” He grumbled.

“Done or no longer in the mood?” A smug smile on his lips, Suga leaned over to snatch Daichi’s empty mug. Daichi just grunted in response. He leaned over to turn off his pc, shoving the papers in a pile and pushed them to the corner.

“You heading out now?” Daichi asked as he grabbed for his suitcase and dress jacket. He pushed his arms in the sleeves and made a grimace as he remembered that his dress shirt sleeves are still pulled up. Suga laughed at him softly.

“Wait.” Suga set the mugs aside, came around the desk and stopped in front of Daichi. He pushed Daichi’s jacket sleeve up and his slender fingers under it until they found the hem of the dress shirt sleeves. He pulled them down, fastening the small buttons on Daichi’s wrist. Carefully avoiding Daichi’s gaze, he held his hand open for Daichi’s other arm. With short hesitation, Daichi raised his other arm and Suga repeated the procedure. He slightly caressed over Daichi’s forearm as he pulled down the sleeve and his thumb probably held a second too long, too tight around Daichi’s wrist to be casual.

Suga patted Daichi’s arm when he was done and grinned at him. “See, nothing to get worked up over.” He waited for Daichi’s sharp nod and grabbed their mugs again. He rounded the desk again and left Daichi’s office not waiting for him but knowing he would follow close by. They rode the elevator in silence which made Suga a little anxious. Was that too much? He bit at his lips when the door opened again, illuminating the dark reception area. Suga pushed the glass door to his office area open but before he could walk over to their break room, Daichi grasped for the mugs in Suga’s hands.

“You get your stuff. I, uh”, he gestured to the mugs Suga slowly let go off, “I’ll take care of that.”

“Thanks”, Suga said a little breathless and jogged over to his desk. He grabbed his stuff as fast as he could and glanced over to Oikawa’s door. He huffed as he saw the light still shining under it. He walked over and with a short knock, opened the door.

“Go home soon, Oikawa-senpai.” He shook his head.

Oikawa looked up, his glasses pushed up as he scrunched his eyes.

“And be careful about your eyes. Your eyesight just gonna get worse.”

Oikawa pouted. “Don’t worry, Suga-chan, I know exactly what I’m doing. Good work. And have a nice weekend.”

“Thanks. You, too.” Suga closed the door with a sad smile. He knew Oikawa won’t leave the office for another couple of hours but there was nothing he could do against it. Maybe he should try dragging him out next time.

Daichi was waiting at the glass door to which Suga strolled over. “I’m ready. Thanks for waiting.”

They walked over to the elevator again. “Oikawa still working?”

Suga hummed. “Yeah.”

Daichi nodded thoughtfully. “Are there enough of you to take all on the workload?”

Suga’s eyes widen just a little and he looked up at Daichi. The doors opened just then, and he could take a shot at Daichi’s tired eyes.

“It’s tough. But we make do nonetheless.” They entered the elevator, Suga pushed the button as he walked to the back. Daichi fell in place next to him and nodded.

“Yeah, we all do.”

Suga didn’t know how to answer. Daichi sounded defeated but there was a hint of purpose in his voice, so he opted for a nudge against Daichi’s shoulder.

“Still means we have to take care of ourselves.”

Daichi exhaled and nodded. “You’re right.” Their eyes met when Daichi glanced over to him. “Thank you. For the coffee and”, he scratched the back of his neck, averting his eyes again, “you know, spending time with me. Talking.”

Suga’s smile grew a little wider and softer. “My pleasure.”

Their shoulders remained in each other’s proximity, brushing against each other a few times before they reached the ground floor.

“You getting your car?” Suga asked as he pushed himself from the wall and stopped in the door.

Daichi nodded. “Want a lift?”

“Nah.” Suga smiled apologetically. “You should get home. Don’t drive around coworkers.” He laughed a little. He wouldn’t actually mind being driven around by Daichi, but he just looked so ready for his bed and making a detour for Suga didn’t sit right with him.

Daichi pulled a face and shook his head. “That’s no trouble for m-“

“I know, I know.” Suga held up his hand as the door threatening to close, pushing them open again. “Next time, okay?” He winked at Daichi and stepped outside. As the door slipped close, he caught a glim of Daichi’s darkened cheeks and a small smile on his lips and his evening couldn’t have ended better.

\------

Getting up the next morning proved to be rather difficult for Daichi. The fight with his father still lingered stale in his mouth. Suga had helped, definitely, but just that much and now he had to deal with these aftermath feelings of defeat. And mentally preparing to head over to Kuroo this evening to have a _talk_. He sighs.

The last two weeks turned his life upside down, or rather his feelings. He didn’t know how to deal with it, so for that Daichi was thankful to get some clarity with Kuroo. After their short talk in the bar, Daichi actually had sat down, googling this ominous word bisexuality, which Kuroo offered so nonchalantly. He had found himself blushing furiously as he scrolled through different types of definition, but all the same in the end. The sexual attraction to male and female people. Huh. Before he could venture into more detail or further terminology in this type of area, Daichi chickened out and banned these thoughts to the back of his head.

He had rather enjoyed the small interaction he had with Suga. Fortunately, they found some time to meet up again and even ran into each other once, but even just communicating with him via Mail was more than enough for him. It felt private.

With his head filled with Suga, their interactions so far, and his newly obtained knowledge about sexual attraction, Daichi made his way to Kuroo’s apartment. It was a rather long walk by foot, but he welcomed these minutes in the darkening evening sky. The air was getting colder fast, even when the sun had shined warm during the day. Daichi inhaled deeply the crisp air and exhaled with his shoulders slumping a little bit.

The apartment complex was run down but with charm and after Daichi rang and was buzzed in, he braced himself the short way upstairs, toes curling with every screeching sound the wood made under his shoes.

The door to Kuroo's apartment was already slightly open and Daichi let himself in. He mumbled a courteous “Sorry for barging in” when he saw Kuroo waving from the couch, a phone squished between his cheek and his shoulder, a menu in his hand. Daichi hung up his thin jacket, shuffled out of his shoes and walked over to Kuroo.

“And make sure to double on the garlic!” Kuroo grinned as he hung up. He pulled up his legs in time before Daichi let himself fall down at the other end of the small couch.

“Want your patrons to leave you alone tomorrow?” Daichi grinned, slouching down into the worn fabric.

Kuroo shrugged. “Maybe I just enjoy the stinging taste of it.” Daichi snorted.

“Sure.”

Kuroo eyed him up and down, tossing his phone on the low coffee table. “Listen”, he leaned against the back of the couch with his shoulder, crossing his arms, still facing Daichi, “this will just gonna be awkward if you let it. We’re just two friends talking about your non-existent love life, no judging.”

Daichi elbowed Kuroo’s shin and threw him a threating glare. He scoffed. “Yeah, nothing strange about it.”

“It’s only strange for you because you never had such a talk. I do that all the time.” Kuroo rolled his eyes as Daichi raised his eyebrows at him. “Not all the time, dude. Just, you know, casual small talk.” He shrugged non-committal. “I never talked about it with you ‘cause I thought you were just”, he paused, searching for the right word, “uptight. That’s the word. Couldn’t have known you had a sexual crisis of some sort.”

Daichi’s lips pursed into a low scowl but he didn’t argue. He never thought much about his orientation, it was just something he accepted over time but never acted on. He had enough on his plate to deal with and it was not like he needed something like that.

“So”, he cleared his throat, “how do we”, he gestured vaguely, “do this talking about this—thing?”

Kuroo had the audacity to snort, even huffing out a laugh. Daichi growled at him. “Bro, you’re a disaster.” He pulled up his legs when Daichi was about to punch them again. “Relax.” He grinned. “Just, hm, tell me about it. When did you get things figured out? Was a drunken escapade with a guy your awakening or something?”

Daichi’s cheeks heated up about the absurdity of this situation. But he knew much worse. Telling his father about his preferences, for example. This was nothing, he could power through this. So, he let out a long exhale and took a few seconds to sort out his thoughts.

He started slowly about his high school years, two girls he dated but he had no defining memory about these relationships. He didn’t even remember their faces or names. His college years were a little more exciting, but not out of the norm. He dated another girl for about a year, but he had always known, he did it mostly out of expectation. They were good friends, and everyone just gushed about how good they looked together and after they accidentally made out at one of their house parties they kind of ended up in this relationship.

At that this point, their pizza arrived and Kuroo pulled out two beers from his fridge. They sat down on the carpet between the table and the couch, pizza slices in one hand, beer can in the other hand.

“I think, I loved her at some point, but”, Daichi sighed frustrated, mostly at himself, and took a sip from his cold beer. He sighed again. “I wasn’t enjoying myself with her. Like, we just were a couple because everyone else decided on that. And I just, I don’t know, just went with it.” He let out his anger at the pizza by chomping down on it.

“After a year, I ended it. I should have done that sooner, I know that.” He grumbled. Kuroo hadn’t interrupted him so far, only to clarify something once in a while.

“And then?” He sounded almost absentmindedly, chewing on his pizza.

“Not much”, Daichi admitted. “Rest of college was just making out with random people when I was drunk. No sex.” He swallowed, ignoring his blush. “After college, I was working almost non-stop, so”, he stopped eating, eyeing his pizza thoughtfully, “there was this event from a rivaling company, I had to go. One of my first official appearance and this sort of thing. I was nervous as hell”, he chuckled, “I drank way too much champagne. This stuff just was everywhere, I kid you not.”

“Don’t brag, rich kid.” Kuroo snorted.

Daichi bit his lip in a poor attempt to contain a grin. “Well, I just wanted to get some fresh air and went outside and met a— some-- someone.” He stumbled over his words. “A guy. We talked, it was nice, and we were both drunk and I don’t know”, his eyes went distant, “one thing led to another. The party was held at a hotel, he had a room, and we ended up having sex.” Daichi clenched his jaw. It was the first time he said it out loud. That he had sex with another guy. Kuroo didn’t bat an eye, just giving him time to continue on his terms, on his pace. He had never been this grateful for Kuroo.

“It was awkward afterward”, he shook his head, “we met up a few times more, mostly to sleep with each other. I think I was just curious, and everything was exciting and all that. It was strange. But I guess, he wanted more, a relationship but I-”, Daichi huffed. He almost emptied his beer in one go. “Maybe it was the wrong time and place and all that stuff, but I could never imagine having him as a … as a partner. I stopped seeing him. And then I just thought, maybe I was gay.” He shrugged. “I made an effort to look for men more often than for women, but it still felt wrong. On each party were pretty men and women and, boy, was I confused.”

Kuroo snorted as he drank, spilling some of its content over his pizza. “Ugh, gross.” He wiped the back of his hand over his chin. “Been there, know exactly what you mean. When I was in high school, though.”

Daichi nodded. His pizza was only lukewarm, but he lost his appetite anyway. It felt good to get all this off his chest and he felt better, definitely. But it was mentally draining. He let his head fall back against the couch, staring at the ceiling. His eyes found a dark spot to focus on, not thinking about anything in particular.

“I don’t even know if I was actually ever in love.” He mumbled. Not actually to Kuroo, but he answered, nonetheless.

“What about the one from college? I don’t pick you as one who just stays in a relationship for a year just because.”

Daichi rubbed his eyes with his thumb and index finger. “Yeah. I think so, at least. But”, he hesitated. “I don’t know. Was I really in love? What if I can’t actually fall in love?”

Kuroo hummed. He pushed the last bit of his pizza in his mouth, shaking off the last crumbs from his hands.

“Is this about Suga?”

Daichi visibly tensed up. He let out his breath after a couple of seconds and nodded, eyes still closed and hidden behind his fingers.

“Basically, you’re saying you are attracted to male and female people, but just sexually. And romantically you have no idea how this stuff actually feels like?” Kuroo summed up. His voice was even, no judgment like he promised.

Daichi let his hand fall down, finally turning his head to face Kuroo. He nodded again. How was that even possible? Being sexually attracted to someone but not emotionally? That didn’t make any sense for Daichi. And worst of all, he was so inconceivably attracted to Suga. He was just the right amount of hot and pretty. Daichi couldn’t forget those eyes that seemingly undressed him in the elevator and he almost acted on it.

But then he got to know Suga and he was so much more worth than just some probably very good fuck. He enjoyed his company, his laugh, his attention, their banter. He wanted to be with him so much, but his emotion didn’t obey his will. For some reason Daichi couldn’t comprehend, he wasn’t falling in love with Suga. Who was just so _perfect_. It was frustrating.

Daichi groaned. “I want him so bad.” It came out like a plea, between gritted teeth and pressed lips. He heard Kuroo shuffle closer, draping one arm over his shoulder and squeezing his arm.

“Listen”, Kuroo said firmly and waited until Daichi was looking at him again, “I actually have no idea how this separating feelings and attraction works, but don’t think for a moment, that something’s wrong with you. You’re you and you’re right.” He nudged Daichi and a playful smile crept onto his lips again as if his mouth just wasn’t used to be serious for too long. “We get this figured out, alright?”

Daichi exhaled heavily and nodded. “Yeah.”

“You gonna talk to Suga about that?” Kuroo eyed him curiously with a raised eyebrow.

Daichi had contemplated about that as well. “Probably not.” He sighed. “I mean, I don’t even have this figured out, it’s a mess. I don’t think … I don’t want to burden Suga with it. I just”, he sighed, “I just want to give it time, you know? We’re just started being friends and I don’t want to blurt things out and scare him off.”

“Your call”, Kuroo shrugged. “It’s your decision what to tell him, especially if you don’t know yourself what’s going on.” He ruffled Daichi’s hair. “But remember, if you really want something to happen with the both of you, you have to talk to him.”

Daichi grumbled, flattening his hair again. “I know, I know.” And he did know. But this was all so new. It was years now that he actually, honestly considered someone to be relationship-material and it was, in fact, scary.

Kuroo didn’t push him to say more. It took Daichi about two hours to get all of that off his chest, his head was swimming and he felt spent. This was enough for one evening. Kuroo got up wordlessly, turned on his TV and grabbed two controllers from under the coffee table. He tossed Daichi one of them and booted up the game console. _Maybe_ , Daichi thought, _Kuroo was telepathic and can read my mind_.

As if on cue, Kuroo turned to him and grinned. Daichi shuddered.

They played some fighting game Daichi didn’t know. You chose some random character and you try to beat each other from a random platform, that much Daichi understood. They drank some more beer, laughed whenever their character got stuck in a glitch, ramming their shoulders against each other when one was close to the edge.

Daichi crashed for the night, thankful for the slow weekend. He made himself comfortable on the couch, his head still fuzzy from the alcohol. He fell asleep with a pretty face, framed in ash-blond hair and an angelic smile on his lips, on his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Already some development for them?? were is the slow burn ugh
> 
> let me know if the format is fucked up or sth I tried to fix as much as possible!!
> 
> Find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/pointyhatwitch) and [tumblr](https://pointy-hat-witch.tumblr.com) and if you want to, you could buy be me a [coffee](https://ko-fi.com/A5633O0M) and ask for a commission!! Thanks a lot! <3

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Please let me know, what you think! <3
> 
> Find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/pointyhatwitch) and [tumblr](https://pointy-hat-witch.tumblr.com) and if you want to, you could be me a [coffee!](https://ko-fi.com/A5633O0M) Thanks a lot! <3


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